Wouldn't it be great for AMERICA to return to the days of old, with men like General George Patton, John Wayne, Will Rogers, President Ronald Reagan, President John F. Kennedy, and President Teddy Roosevelt?

The United States of America, yes the good old USA, is in real trouble people!
If you din't vote, don't complain.
This BLOG is here as a reminder to us all.
The election is over, pictures and videos will concentrate on the newly elected President and America.

Jan 31, 2009

The Defense Department has established a "civilian expeditionary workforce" that will see American civilians trained and equipped to deploy overseas in support of worldwide military missions.The move is seen by some as an initial step towards fulfilling President Obama’s promise to form a civilian national security force as powerful as the U.S. military.The intent of the program “is to maximize the use of the civilian workforce to allow military personnel to be fully utilized for operational requirements,” according to a Defense Department report.The program was officially implemented one week ago, on the 23rd January, when Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England signed Defense Department Directive 1404.10, which provides a summation of the duties the workforce will undertake.The directive, which is effective immediately, states that civilian employees of the DoD will be asked to sign agreements stating that they will deploy in support of military missions for up to two years if needed.Workforce members, who are divided into different designations under the directive, will serve overseas in support of humanitarian, reconstruction and, if necessary, combat-support missions."If the employee does not wish to deploy, every effort will be made to reassign the employee to a nondeploying position." the DoD report states.While the directive suggests that the DoD will at first seek volunteers to serve in the civilian workforce, section 4, subsection (e) paragraph (2) states:Management retains the authority to direct and assign civilian employees, either voluntarily, involuntarily, or on an unexpected basis to accomplish the DoD mission.In addition, the directive states that all workforce members will be subject to physical and psychological testing, both before and after deployment.The directive refers several times to the civilian workforce as a component of the "Total Force", which it describes as "The organizations, units, and individuals that compromise the DoD resources for implementing the National Security Strategy." This "Total Force" includes active, reserve and retired military personnel in addition to DoD civilian employees.Back in July 2008, Barack Obama, then the presidential front runner, called for a "civilian national security force" as powerful as the U.S. military."We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded," Obama told a Colorado Springs audience.The comments that were ignored by the vast majority of the corporate media but were found to be troubling by some independent journalists who compared the idea to the formation of the Nazi Hitler Youth.Fears of "youth brigades" or civilian stasi style units increased following Obama’s appointment of Rahm Emanuel to chief-of staff.In his book, "The Plan: Big Ideas for America," Emanuel writes: "It’s time for a real Patriot Act that brings out the patriot in all of us. We propose universal civilian service for every young American. Under this plan, all Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 will be asked to serve their country by going through three months of basic training, civil defense preparation and community service.The book also notes, "Some Republicans will squeal about individual freedom, ruling out any likelihood that they would let people opt out of universal citizen service.Emanuel is also an enthusiastic supporter of the United States Public Service Academy Act, a lobbying group founded in 2006 in order to promote the foundation of an American public service academy modeled on the military academies - a youth corps whose students would be trained in "civilian internship in the armed forces".Furthermore, in a rediscovered 2006 audio clip of an interview with Ben Smith of the New York Daily News, Emanuel outlined the agenda for compulsory military-style training, essentially a domestic draft, aimed at preparing Americans for a chemical or biological terrorist attack.When controversy arose over the program last November, the use of the word "required" to describe the program was removed from Obama’s change. gov website and replaced with "community service" type terminology.Though the civilian expeditionary workforce program is restricted to DoD employees, similar programs have already been established for public sector workers.One such program has seen hundreds of police, firefighters, paramedics and utility workers recently trained and dispatched as "Terrorism Liaison Officers" in Colorado, Arizona and California to watch for "suspicious activity" which is later fed into a secret government database.

According to he Senate Finance Committee Tom Daschle failed to pay Federal Income Taxes on the use of a limousine and driver, and didn't disclose his income taxes and nonpayment of taxes on more than $80,000 he earned in consulting fees after leaving the U.S. Senate.

Full Story:Tom Daschle also apparently once filed a tax form listing charitable donations to organizations that did not qualify for a deduction, according to the memo.A Democratic source told CNN that Daschle has since paid what he owed. None of the tax issues appeared to have occurred while he was serving in the senate.White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that Daschle brought the issues to the committee's attention himself and that Obama is "confident" he will be confirmed.Daschle, 61, of South Dakota, served in the Senate from 1987 to 2005 and served as Democratic leader from 1995 until after he was defeated in a re-election bid in 2004.He has been a confidant and adviser to Obama, and it was not a surprise when Obama picked him for a role in his administration."The president has confidence that Sen. Daschle is the right person to lead the fight for health care reform," Gibbs said Friday. "In preparation for his nomination, Sen. Daschle and his accountant identified some tax issues and fixed them. They filed an amended return with the IRS and made payments with interest."Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, said Daschle would be confirmed."He has a long and distinguished career and record in public service and is the best person to help reform health care in this country," Manley said. "Sen. Reid looks forward to a swift hearing and is confident Daschle will be confirmed."Sen. Charles Grassley, the ranking Republican member of the committee, said Friday that Daschle's confirmation process has been the same as every other he's participated in since 2001. He said the process "established certain tax violations, for which the nominee has amended or is amending returns."He said the information that was discovered will be made public now that all committee members have been made aware of it."The public business ought to be public, and committee members must weigh all the facts of a nominee's record," he said in a written statement.A congressional source also said the committee has looked at several trips Daschle took while he was out of office on the private jet of Educap, a nonprofit group that works to help college students get loans.The finance committee must sign off on Daschle's nomination before the full senate votes on whether to confirm him. Monday's meeting will not be a confirmation hearing, and no vote is expected.

My Comment for what it's worth:Tom Daschle was an irritant while in the U.S. Senate and now he proves Obama just loves to put crooks and ne'er-do-wells in office and surround himself with people who brake the law and will govern the country according to their own standards!

NAIROBI, Kenya: CNN is reporting that George Obama, the half brother of U.S. President Barack Obama, has been arrested by Kenyan police on a charge of possession of marijuana, police said Saturday.

The Full Story:Inspector Augustine Mutembei, the officer in charge, said Obama was arrested on charges of possession of cannabis, known in Kenya as Bhang, and resisting arrest. He is scheduled to appear in court Monday, Mutembei said.He is being held at Huruma police post in the capital of Nairobi.CNN Correspondent David McKenzie talked with George Obama at the jail where he is being held. Speaking from behind bars, Obama denied the allegations."They took me from my home," he said, "I don't know why they are charging me."George Obama and the president barely know each other, though they have met before. George Obama was one of the president's few close relatives who did not go to the inauguration in Washington last week.In his memoir, "Dreams from My Father," Barack Obama describes meeting George as a "painful affair." Barack Obama's trip to Kenya meant meeting family he had never known.McKenzie tracked down George Obama in August 2008 and found him at a small house in Huruma, a Nairobi slum, where he lives with his mother's extended family. His birth certificate shows he is Barack Obama's half brother.The two men share the same Kenyan father. In the memoir, Barack Obama struggles to reconcile with his father after he left him and his mother when he was just a child.Barack Obama Sr. died in a car accident when George was just 6 months old. Like his half brother, George hardly knew his father.George was his father's last child and had not been aware of his famous half brother until he rose to prominence in the Democratic primaries last year.Unlike his grandmother in Kogela, in western Kenya, George Obama had received little attention from the media until reports about him surfaced in August 2008.The reports sprung from an Italian Vanity Fair article saying George Obama lived in a shack and was "earning less than a dollar a day." Those reports left George Obama angry."I was brought up well. I live well even now," he said. "The magazines, they have exaggerated everything."I think I kind of like it here. There are some challenges, but maybe it is just like where you come from, there are the same challenges," Obama said.Obama, who is in his mid-20s, said at the time that he was learning to become a mechanic and was active in youth groups in Huruma. He said he tried to help the community as much as he can.

Jan 27, 2009

You are looking at the moron leading the charge and many Liberals are telling Obama to keep his campaign pledge to prosecute persons who engaged in torturing and abusing prisoners (terrorist) starting with George Bush and Dick Cheney.

What these Liberal idiots including the looney left news media like MSNBC don't understand is that a full scale retaliation would be in order when the Republicans get back in office, and they will sooner or later.Even President Obama cannot be this stupid as to think his day and all that were involved in something like this wouldn't come back and bite them in the butt !!!

Timothy Geithner was sworn in as U.S. Treasury Secretary, we have now given the Cookie Jar, so to speak, to a crook. The guy cheats on his own taxes and now we have put him in charge of the IRS among other federal agencies, and he will oversee personally the spending bill(s) approved by Congress for the Obama Economic Plan.

My Comment:Can it get any worse, you betcha... just wait the collapse of America has started.I'm hiding my cookie jar. Also I am buying gold. The dollar wont be worth much soon.

Jan 26, 2009

ABC and CNN are both reporting tonight (1-26-2009) that President Obama has had his first formal TV interview with the Arabic cable TV network Al-Arabiya.Obama claims he is simply fulfilling a campaign promise to open the door of dialect to all Muslims. He told CNN he plans a trip to a major Muslim country as a follow up gesture of good faith for further relations and talks with the Muslim world.

Update: Tuesday January 27, 2009 - All the news networks around the world now are carrying the story of Obama on Arab TV.Obama said: "My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy."

Related Story-DUBAI (AlArabiya.net)....A member of Saudi Arabia's royal family called on newly inaugurated U.S. President Barack Obama to change Washington's unbalanced stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and warned that U.S.-Saudi ties were at risk if the new administration failed to take "forceful steps" to end Palestinian suffering.

Prince Turki al-Faisal said that Israel had come close to "killing the prospect of peace" with its 22-day assault on the Gaza Strip and said that although Obama was inheriting a “basket full of snakes” in the region the situation could be calmed if the necessary steps were taken.

71,400 cut-backs, a fancy tern used for layoffs (jobs lost) were announced by multiple U.S. Corporations today. Many of these will be phased over a period of time but are definite.More than 2.6 million jobs were lost in 2008.The real fact is that we are currently losing 500,000 jobs each month in 2009.Add to this states, now deep in trouble themselves, will face 300 Billion Dollars in debt this year alone.

1929 unemployment lines stretched for blocks in every major city with people looking for just day work.

Now in every city and town in America unemployment lines are long with people either filing for new benefits or looking for extended unemployment benefits.

There is only two ways out of this crisis -1) The Obama Plan - Print money, borrow and spend until the cows come home, leaving us a bankrupt nation by 2012.2) Allow these corporations to follow the natural order of business, go into bankruptcy and let the dust settle, then allow recovery to start afterwards. This means no bailouts, lots of mergers and acquisitions, and some ultimate failures. No more golden executive parachutes.

My Comment:Buckle down, stop spending.Put some cash away in your home for easy access for when the banks close and lock their doors.Another 'Depression' is coming ... ask yourself, 'Are You Prepared?'

Jan 25, 2009

This image was taken from an undated video posted on a militant-leaning website Friday, Jan. 23, 2009, and provided by the SITE Intelligence Group shows a militant who identified himself as Abu al-Hareth Muhammad al-Oufi and claimed he had been a Guantanamo captive.He issues a warning to America and President Obama.This comes just after Obama said he would close Guantanamo Bay (GITMO) prison currently holding some 245 terrorist.

Jan 23, 2009

Despite warnings from the Pentagon President Obama has decided to close Guantanamo Bay Prison (GITMO) within a year. His plan is to return the prisoners to their home country, which Bush tried unsuccessful. These countries don't want them. In fact a Pentagon report shows that the Muslim based countries that took prisoners back released them.

The Full Story:Detainee went from Gitmo to al Qaeda, official says.WASHINGTON DC - A Saudi national released from U.S. detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in September 2007 is believed to be a key leader in al Qaeda's operations in Yemen, according to a U.S. counter terrorism official.The Defense Department recently estimated that more than 60 terrorists released from Guantanamo may have returned to the battlefield.According to the counter terrorism official, Ali al-Shiri traveled to Yemen after being released to Saudi Arabia and may have been involved in recent al Qaeda attacks in Yemen, including a car bombing outside the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa last year that killed nearly a dozen people."He is one of a handful of al Qaeda deputies in Yemen," the official said. "He is one of the top terrorists."His title is deputy and senior operations commander, the source said.According to the magazine Sada al-Malahem, or the Echo of the Epics, published by al Qaeda in Yemen, al-Shiri attended a media session in which Yemen commander Abu Baseer was interviewed.The magazine identified al-Shiri as Baseer's deputy commander and quoted Baseer as announcing that al Qaeda's operations in Yemen and Saudi Arabia have been combined to become al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula.The magazine noted that al-Shiri was released from Guantanamo more than 10 months ago.He fled a Saudi jihadi re-education program, where he went after his release, a Saudi source told CNN.President Obama on Thursday signed an order mandating that the Guantanamo Bay prison be closed within the year. What to do with the detainees has been a hotly debated topic.The issue of freed detainees engaging in terrorism is one concern. Another is housing them in prisons inside the United States.Rep. Bill Young, R-Florida, said he has "quite a bit of anxiety" about the possibility of transferring detainees to U.S. facilities."Number one, they're dangerous," Young said. "Secondly, once they become present in the United States, what is their legal status? What is their constitutional status? I worry about that, because I don't want them to have the same constitutional rights that you and I have. They're our enemy."Obama's decision to close the Guantanamo facility received immediate backing from his general election opponent, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain.McCain, in a joint statement with South Carolina GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, said he supported Obama's decision to "begin a process that will, we hope, lead to the resolution of all cases of Guantanamo detainees."But Thursday night on CNN "Larry King Live," John McCain said the new president may have been hasty in the decision and should have taken the time to consider everything associated with closing the camp before forcing himself into a timetable.Specifically, McCain said he thought Obama needed to consider what would happen to the prisoners held at Guantanamo before ordering the facility to be closed."So, the easy part, in all due respect, is to say we're going to close Guantanamo," McCain said. "Then I think I would have said where they were going to be taken. Because you're going to run into a NIMBY [not in my backyard] problem here in the United States of America."Asked about that issue Thursday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said, "We have developed some options in terms of how many we think could be returned to other countries to take them. That diplomatic initiative has not started. That will await work in carrying out the executive order.""We have identified a number of possible prisons here in the United States" that could take the detainees. However, Gates added, "I've heard from members of Congress where all those prisons are located. Their enthusiasm is limited."

My Comment:You wanted a Liberal for a President now you got one.What are you Liberals including President Obama going to do when these asshole terrorist, that should have been put to death, kill Americans again?This is proof that we should not take terrorist as prisoners and if we do, question them in the field and then shoot them.

In a surprise move the Governor of New York, shunning Mario Cuomo picks little known Democrat U.S. Congresswoman from New York to replace the vacant U.S. Senate seat held by Hillary Clinton who is now Secretary of State under the Obama administration.

Jan 21, 2009

An apparent combination of screw-ups combining Obama jumping the gun on repeating the Oath of Office and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts giving it wrong, required President Obama today to take the oath again in provate at the White House.

Full Story:In a rare do-over of Oath of Office. The surprise moment came in response to Tuesday's much-noticed stumble, when Roberts got the words of the oath a little off, which prompted Obama to do so, too.Don't worry, the White House says, Obama has still been president since noon on Inauguration Day.Nevertheless, Obama and Roberts went through the drill again out of what White House counsel Greg Craig called "an abundance of caution."This time, the scene was the White House Map Room in front of a small group of reporters, not the Capitol platform before the whole watching world."We decided that because it was so much fun ...," Obama joked to reporters who followed press secretary Robert Gibbs into the room. No TV camera crews or news photographers were allowed in. A few of Obama's closest aides were there, along with a White House photographer.Roberts put on his black robe."Are you ready to take the oath?" he said."Yes, I am," Obama said. "And we're going to do it very slowly."Roberts then led Obama through the oath without any missteps.The president said he did not have his Bible with him, but that the oath was binding anyway.The original, bungled version on Tuesday caught observers by surprise and then got replayed on cable news shows.It happened when Obama interrupted Roberts midway through the opening line, in which the president repeats his name and solemnly swears.Next in the oath is the phrase " ... that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States." But Roberts rearranged the order of the words, not saying "faithfully" until after "president of the United States."That appeared to throw Obama off. He stopped abruptly at the word "execute."Recognizing something was off, Roberts then repeated the phrase, putting "faithfully" in the right place but without repeating "execute."But Obama then repeated Roberts' original, incorrect version: "... the office of president of the United States faithfully."Craig, the White House lawyer, said in a statement Wednesday evening: "We believe the oath of office was administered effectively and that the president was sworn in appropriately yesterday. Yet the oath appears in the Constitution itself. And out of the abundance of caution, because there was one word out of sequence, Chief Justice John Roberts will administer the oath a second time."The Constitution is clear about the exact wording of the oath and as a result, some constitutional experts have said that a do-over probably wasn't necessary but also couldn't hurt. Two other previous presidents have repeated the oath because of similar issues, Calvin Coolidge and Chester A. Arthur.

One of the most powerful positions in government was given to a person with no experience in intelligence, and a piss poor record of defending her own state's borders in Arizona.Well done Obama.You have given the 'Terrorist' and the Mexican Drug Cartels free access to America.Pictured below, Napolitano in army camouflage fatigues at Senate confirmation hearing.Give me a break!

Jan 19, 2009

Biden shushes wife on TV over slip -The VP-elect reacts with a loud "shhh!" as wife Jill spills a big secret on Oprah Winfrey's show.The Details:WASHINGTON DC – The wife of Vice President-elect Joe Biden let it slip to Oprah Winfrey Monday that her husband had a pick of two jobs in the Obama administration. Jill Biden said President-elect Barack Obama gave Biden the choice of being secretary of state or vice president. The vice president-elect tried to hush his wife as soon as the words came out of her mouth, with a loud "shhh!" that sent the audience into laughter.

The Bidens made a surprise appearance on Winfrey's show, recorded at the Kennedy Center for broadcast later Monday on the eve of the inauguration. The celebrity-filled show also included the premiere of "America's Song," performed by Faith Hill, Seal, Bono, Mary J. Blige, Will.i.am and David Foster in honor of the occasion and available for free download on Winfrey's Web site.The vice president-elect said he only accepted Obama's offer to be his running mate after talking it over with "Jilly," his pet name for his wife. Mrs. Biden said she told him vice president would be better for the family."If you're secretary of state, you'll be away, we'll never see you, you know," she said. "I'll see you at a state dinner once and awhile. But I said, if you are vice president, the entire family, because they worked so hard for the election, they can be involved. They can come to our home. They can go to events, they can be with us all the time. And that's what's important to us."Obama's transition office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether he was offered both jobs. Obama gave the secretary of state job to Hillary Rodham Clinton.The vice president-elect didn't address his wife's comments, but said he didn't immediately take the vice presidential offer since he wasn't sure it was the best place for him to serve. But Biden, who ran against Obama in the Democratic primary race, said he agreed after getting some assurances from Obama about his role."This is a partnership," Biden said. "He's president of the United States, but as I said to him when he asked me, I said, `Barack, don't ask me unless the reason you're asking me is, you're asking me for my judgment. I get to be the last guy in the room before you make every important decision. You're president. Any decision you make, I will back.' ""He said he wanted to have a confidant and somebody who wouldn't be a yes man. He's pretty sure about that" last part, Biden said with a laugh.Winfrey also interviewed movie star couple Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher about how Obama has inspired them to pledge to help end slave labor around the world. Other celebrities, including Scarlett Johansson, Justin Timberlake and Forest Whitaker appeared by videotape to talk about what Obama's election means to them.Winfrey, who made her first ever presidential endorsement for Obama, heralded the significance of the moment particularly coming the day after Martin Luther King Jr. holiday."I feel like I am better because of his being elected," Winfrey said. "And I think that the country is going to be better. I feel like it is a beautiful thing, and we all start to see ourselves differently, the possibility."Winfrey ended the show by singing along with the musicians to the chorus of "America's Song," written by Foster and Will.i.am at Oprah's request. She said the performance came together in a week and is available for free download on Oprah.com for 24 hours after the show's airing.My Thoughts are....The Democratic Saga Begins - Michelle Obama must be singing the song, 'Oh Do Da Day.' Damn get that white boy a banana! They're gonna be easier to make fun of than Bush.

You remember this guy. The Iraqi who they his shoes at President George W. Bush and the U.S. Secret Service stood around with their head up their butts and let it happen.Well the shoe thrower is seeking Political Asylum in Switzerland.Geneva-based lawyer Mauro Poggia says Muntadhar al-Zeidi's life is in danger in Iraq.Al-Zeidi is currently in an Iraqi jail awaiting trial on charges of assaulting a foreign leader for his Dec. 14 outburst at a news conference in Baghdad.Just what Europe needs another radical Muslim.I just have to wonder if our new President elect Obama will take him in the United States if he's not welcomed in Europe.

Jan 18, 2009

South Korea's army on full alert after North's military threat.SEOUL, South Korea – South Korea said its army remained on alert Sunday, a day after North Korea threatened military action in response to Seoul's hard-line stance against its communist regime.The latest harsh rhetoric from the isolated regime appeared aimed at heightening tensions on the divided peninsula and could be a test for Barack Obama days before he is sworn in as the new U.S. president.The North's Korean People's Army called South Korean President Lee Myung-bak a "traitor" and accused him of preparing a military provocation, according to a statement carried Saturday by the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency.Pyongyang said it was adopting "an all-out confrontational posture" and warned of a "strong military retaliatory step." South Korea immediately put its forces on alert.

Lets face it, everyone in the world knows Obama is a liberal, they are going to test him, which means they are testing the United States.Remember ....North Korea has nuclear weapons.

Jan 16, 2009

For those of you who live in a box. This is the pilot of the airplane that crashed into the icy waters of the Hudson River off NYC yesterday, January 15, 2009.All 155 passengers and crew survived because of his military training.

Jan 4, 2009

Jan 3, 2009

• "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully." — September 2000, explaining his energy policies at an event in Michigan.• "Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning?" — January 2000, during a campaign event in South Carolina.• "They misunderestimated the compassion of our country. I think they misunderestimated the will and determination of the commander in chief, too." — Sept. 26, 2001, in Langley, Va. Bush was referring to the terrorists who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks.• "There's no doubt in my mind, not one doubt in my mind, that we will fail." — Oct. 4, 2001, in Washington. Bush was remarking on a back-to-work plan after the terrorist attacks.• "It would be a mistake for the United States Senate to allow any kind of human cloning to come out of that chamber." — April 10, 2002, at the White House, as Bush urged Senate passage of a broad ban on cloning.• "I want to thank the dozens of welfare-to-work stories, the actual examples of people who made the firm and solemn commitment to work hard to embetter themselves." — April 18, 2002, at the White House.• "There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again." — Sept. 17, 2002, in Nashville, Tenn.• "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." — Aug. 5, 2004, at the signing ceremony for a defense spending bill.• "Too many good docs are getting out of business. Too many OB/GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." — Sept. 6, 2004, at a rally in Poplar Bluff, Mo.• "Our most abundant energy source is coal. We have enough coal to last for 250 years, yet coal also prevents an environmental challenge." — April 20, 2005, in Washington.• "We look forward to hearing your vision, so we can more better do our job." — Sept. 20, 2005, in Gulfport, Miss.• "I can't wait to join you in the joy of welcoming neighbors back into neighborhoods, and small businesses up and running, and cutting those ribbons that somebody is creating new jobs." — Sept. 5, 2005, when Bush met with residents of Poplarville, Miss., in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.• "It was not always a given that the United States and America would have a close relationship. After all, 60 years we were at war 60 years ago we were at war." — June 29, 2006, at the White House, where Bush met with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.• "Make no mistake about it, I understand how tough it is, sir. I talk to families who die." — Dec. 7, 2006, in a joint appearance with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.• "These are big achievements for this country, and the people of Bulgaria ought to be proud of the achievements that they have achieved." — June 11, 2007, in Sofia, Bulgaria.• "Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for your introduction. Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit." — September 2007, in Sydney, Australia, where Bush was attending an APEC summit.• "Thank you, Your Holiness. Awesome speech." April 16, 2008, at a ceremony welcoming Pope Benedict XVI to the White House.• "The fact that they purchased the machine meant somebody had to make the machine. And when somebody makes a machine, it means there's jobs at the machine-making place." — May 27, 2008, in Mesa, Ariz.• "And they have no disregard for human life." — July 15, 2008, at the White House. Bush was referring to enemy fighters in Afghanistan.• "I remember meeting a mother of a child who was abducted by the North Koreans right here in the Oval Office." — June 26, 2008, during a Rose Garden news briefing.• "Throughout our history, the words of the Declaration have inspired immigrants from around the world to set sail to our shores. These immigrants have helped transform 13 small colonies into a great and growing nation of more than 300 people." — July 4, 2008 in Virginia.• "The people in Louisiana must know that all across our country there's a lot of prayer — prayer for those whose lives have been turned upside down. And I'm one of them. It's good to come down here." — Sept. 3, 2008, at an emergency operations center in Baton Rouge, La., after Hurricane Gustav hit the Gulf Coast.• "This thaw — took a while to thaw, it's going to take a while to unthaw." Oct. 20, 2008, in Alexandria, La., as he discussed the economy and frozen credit markets.